Claire is 1 month old

Claire was one month old yesterday. I was really happy I disproved my theory about being wound up during pregnancy. I have managed to stay relatively relaxed this past month and I have a relatively relaxed baby to show for it. She has her moments but there is always a reason.

She’s still pretty much a newborn so really there’s not much to tell. She’s started to be much more alert this past week and can now follow her mobile and turn her head when she hears our voices. She has a very strong neck and has been known to pitch herself backwards. While she isn’t deliberately putting her hands in her mouth if she happens to come across her fist she will give it a few licks and a good suck. She started smiling yesterday but it’s not consistent yet - I am pretty sure these aren’t gas smiles. She’s has also unfurled and now likes to kick her feet and wave her arms. The arms make me laugh - she looks like she’s a spastic rapper when she really gets going.

She is doing extremely well on the feeding front. She’s got a little belly and is starting to look chubby. The only issue we’ve had is that she can be a bit barfy and tends to spit up quite a bit. I’ve had myself convinced a couple of times that she has reflux (the girls were on meds for this) and I plan to talk to the doctor about it next week. I think feeding was my biggest concern going into our second newborn experience and I am really relieved it is going well. I probably should be pumping more in preparation for trying out a bottle with her but I’m really not in any rush to use the pump again. She is also pooping well. She pooped pretty much every diaper change for the first couple weeks but now she’s settled in to about once every day. I moved her up to size 1 diapers yesterday. She could probably stay in newborn but it is amazing how slowly you go through diapers with just one baby!

Sleep was my second biggest concern going in. Thankfully she is also sleeping well - as well as I expected anyways. When she first came home we bought a remote control heater and put it by my chair at the end of our bed so I could feed her without freezing. I then started feeding her in bed with the boppy and then finally when my parents were just about to leave I learned how to feed her while lying down. While she has gone 4 and 5 hour stretches she is going 3 hours these days. I am tired but I drink one cup of coffee in the morning and it is manageable. I will have to get her sleeping in her crib at some point but at this point we are in survival mode and doing what works best for our family.

I know it’s early but her eyes are still blue. It wil be very weird if John and I have three blue eyed daughters. Her hair is thinning out a bit and is brown with red highlights. Apparently she looks just like I did when I was a baby - I will have to dig out some pictures. She doesn’t really look like either of the girls but some of the stuff she does reminds me of them. She has this scrunched up worried look that is all Emma and sometimes when she’s sleeping she’s just like Leah.

Having her around has been an easy adjustment for all of us. The girls are loving but not overbearing. The only major thing they’ve had to give up is their position in the car and they didn’t care at all. John is enjoying his sleep as there isn’t much he can do to help me out at night. I have recovered just fine from the section and life with the girls coupled with the last trimester of pregnancy prepared me for functioning on minimal sleep.

Here are some pics I took yesterday. I forgot how easy it was to photograph something that hardly moves!

Relaxing on her bouncer seat - the bouncer doubles as a sling shot when you have toddlers around. Thankfully we figured that one out with a doll and not Claire!

Looking around

One thing that sucks about winter babies is that it is too cold to hang out in their diaper.

 

Baby C’s 33 week appt

I will be 33 weeks tomorrow. I had an appointment with Dr Shuen this morning. I left Oakville in clear cool weather and drove across the city to find snow covered grass and flurries in North York. I remember when I was pregnant with the girls I used to say to John if I can make it til there are leaves on the trees then the babies should be ok. This time I’ve been telling myself if I can make it til I see snow it will be ok. I’ve seen my snow!

The baby is doing fine. The heartbeat was 153. I had trace amounts of protein in my urine but my blood pressure was fine so he’s not too concerned. I have the ultrasound on Monday to see if my low lying placenta has fixed itself. I am still measuring big - nearly 36 weeks. Dr Shuen is convinced the baby is going to be 9lbs. I still maintain that his predominantly teeny tiny “this basketball belly is a full term baby” asian patient base is biasing his opinion

The only other thing to report is that I am sick. I was very tired all week and I thought I had reached my limit but it turns out I was just getting sick. Thankfully it got really bad yesterday afternoon just in time to have John home for the weekend. I am really congested and it’s deep down in my chest. I asked Dr Shuen if there was anything I could take if it wasn’t better by next week and he told me to try and get some rest and drink plenty of fluids. Then I coughed and he heard the rumble in my chest. His tone changed immediately and he’s put me on antibiotics that he promised would be fine for the baby. The girls are also a bit congested but otherwise fine.